Published
$18-$25 per hour starting pay would be a pretty decent estimate. And yes, there is a nursing shortage everywhere.
I don't know about the "nursing shortage everywhere" statement. I think it is really relative to where you are located. There was a thread recently on nursing shortages. To read it, you would think that there are too many nurses and not enough jobs. Here's the thread. It's a good read with a lot of varied opinions.
https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/nursing-shortage-399946.html
As you ask about the US, would it be correct to think that you may not be from the US?
If so, there will be many more obstacles and a really long wait after you graduate before you would even be permitted to work in the US.
If you are a US citizen, disregard this. But most locals aware that pay rates and need for nurses vary greatly from area to area, and that there is no way to really predict need for nurses that far in the future.....just as all the recent new grads that were "assured" of getting jobs after graduation....that are now unemployed.
Many of us considered the nursing "shortage" to be a convenient fiction for employers in the first place. Since the US economy has tanked, hospitals and other employers are cutting back and hiring less (and, in some cases, even laying off nurses) and lots of experienced nurses who were choosing not to work before have now returned to the workforce. Many areas of the US are currently experiencing nursing surpluses -- new grads are completely shut out of the market and even experienced RNs are having trouble finding jobs -- but there are still some areas of the US that have shortages. Most of these areas seem to be the less desirable, popular areas to live.
Pay rates and frequency/availability of raises vary greatly around the country, as others have already noted. In comparing different compensation packages in different parts of the country, it's important to consider the cost of living in the area -- one area may offer a much higher hourly pay rate than another area, but if the cost of living is much higher in the first area, you may actually be worse off than with a job with lower pay, but in an area with a lower cost of living.
cheng1988
17 Posts
hi every. I just want to know how much is the starting rate for a RN with an associate degree. Plus, is there really a big shortage of RN in the US?